Hiking, swimming, eating, talking on Dominican time

A small farm in Oviedo grows cassava, a staple of Caribbean diets. The town in the Pedernales uplands is best known for Laguna de Oviedo, a saltwater lake that provides habitat for flamingos and Rhinoceros iguanas in Jaragua National Park.
Patricia Borns

Hiking, swimming, eating, talking on Dominican time

A short but thrilling boat ride to the beach of BahÃ­a de las Ãguilas passes coral heads that loom like massive sculptures.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A miner shows off samples of the semi-precious larimar stone found only in the DR. The Los Chupaderos region of the Sierra de Baoruco mountain range has hundreds of mine shafts, and visitors and buyers are welcomed.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

The beaches of Pedernales province run together in an empty, endless chain of white and turquise-blue. One can stop anywhere on the road from Cabo Rojo to BahÃ­a de las Ãguilas and find a quiet stretch of beach.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

Boys pose outside a vegetable market stall in the small coastal town of ParaÃ­so (Spanish for paradise), in the Barahona province.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A family on a Cahote farm opens cacao pods from their trees, separating the seeds used for making chocolate, and the white fruit that can be eaten raw or blended as a juice drink.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

Forget soccer. In the Dominican Republic, baseball rules. Pedernales school teams do a hats-off before trotting onto the field for practice.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

It is early morning in Cabo Rojo, and already the colors of the sea are brighter than many Caribbean waters achieve at high noon. Cabo Rojo's white sand beach stretches emptily to the still more beautiful beach of Bahia de las Aguilas.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A small farm in Oviedo grows cassava, a staple of Caribbean diets. The town in the Pedernales uplands is best known for Laguna de Oviedo, a saltwater lake that provides habitat for flamingos and Rhinoceros iguanas in Jaragua National Park.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A farmer in Cachote shows visitors ripening coffee cherries on his trees. The mountain community of 30 families has banded together to preserve their cloud forest environment and offer light eco-tourism.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

Traffic waits for a farmer herding his cows on the road through Oviedo in Pedernales province.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A mother and daughter buy vegetables off the truck in one of the small farming towns scattered across the uplands of Pedernales province.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A Haitian family says hello on the mountain road to the coffee-growing community of Cachote in the Sierra de Bahoruco. Sharing the island of Hispanola with Haiti, the DR has a large Haitian migrant population whose inexpensive labor supports the economy.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

A fishmonger shows her wares at the market in the small coastal town of ParaÃ­so (Spanish for paradise), in the Barahona province.

Patricia Borns
| December 2, 2012

The dry scrub plains of coastal Pedernales offer a surreal contrast to the luminous beaches.